‘Tobacco Reporter stories are thoroughly researched, fact-checked and contain insights that you won’t come across in competing publications.’
That’s very true. The latest issue features a three-page interview with yours truly in which I am described as “studious-looking”, “avuncular” and “engagingly combative”.
The headline, ‘Rebel With A Cause’, also made me chuckle. According to George Gay, who wrote the piece:
Part of his journalistic activities were devoted to radical/reactionary student publications, and he says he came to Forest from the “fringes of libertarian politics”. He was, I would guess, something of a rebel without sufficient cause, and Forest provided a cause.
Perhaps, but as George also notes:
It was empathy that got him hooked on Forest ... Shortly after joining the organization, he attended an international conference for about 12-14 smokers’ rights groups as he remembers it. He turned up concerned that it was going to be a meeting of fairly hard-core libertarian activists, but the people he met, he said, were ordinary smokers from around Europe, mostly volunteers representing groups of people who simply enjoyed smoking and who came across as rather bemused by the anti-smoking movement and the increasing restrictions being foisted on smokers.
All they had wanted was to be left alone to enjoy smoking. They didn't want to upset anybody; they didn't want to inconvenience other people; and they were happy with reasonable restrictions on where they could smoke. Clark said he felt very strongly that they needed a voice and that they should be supported.
With a delicious but unintended irony the person George interviewed for the previous issue was Derek Yach, the former WHO executive whose new project, the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, is being bankrolled by Philip Morris International to the tune of $1 billion.
Perhaps that was at the back of editor Taco Tuinstra’s mind when he wrote this month's Editor's Memo:
At a time when even tobacco companies seem to be turning against cigarettes, few people are willing to speak up for smokers. Fortunately there are organisations, such as Forest in the UK, who continue to stand up on their behalf, even when it is increasingly unpopular to do so.
The example set by Forest is inspiring. So, as we move into 2018, let’s spare a thought for beleaguered smokers everywhere. Not only do they deserve respect as fellow citizens; they also continue to generate the bulk of our business.
To read Taco's editorial and the interview in full click here or on the image below.
The cover, btw, features one of my favourite photographs. It was taken by Dan Donovan and I used it in my presentation at the Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum in New York in September.
Pointing to the image on the screen, I said:
"This picture was taken at an annual Forest event called Smoke On The Water. Each year we hire a Mississippi-style paddle steamer and cruise down the Thames under Tower Bridge and past many of London’s iconic buildings including the Houses of Parliament. Guests include politicians, parliamentary researchers, political activists but, most important, ordinary consumers – smokers and vapers.
"I love this photo because it illustrates the type of person Forest represents – a gloriously unashamed smoker who enjoys smoking and doesn’t wish to quit or conceal his habit. Smokers, especially cigarette smokers, are invariably portrayed as victims of a terrible addiction. Does this man look like a victim to you? Of course not. Nor is he alone. There are many, many smokers just like him."
Two years after it was taken I can't tell you how satisfying it is to see it on the cover of a global tobacco trade magazine!
